The Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative is developing a proposal for the restoration of Govan Graving Docks in Glasgow as a maritime park. A conceptual proposal for this has already been developed and is presented in our maritime park proposal document.
We see a range of community and wider benefits having the potential to arise from a sympathetic and appropriate regeneration of Govan Graving Docks. A maritime park, as our proposal broadly envisions it, is a long-term venture that will take several years to bring to completion. A diverse range of experts and stakeholders will need to be consulted at every stage of the project.
We aim to present a masterplan for the regeneration of Govan Graving Docks to Glasgow City Council by the end of 2020.
Our aim is that Govan Graving Docks will eventually be acquired by a dedicated charity. We have set up the Govan Docks Regeneration Trust SCIO (Scottish registered charity no. SC046875) for this purpose.
We would define a maritime/heritage park in a very broad sense and the vision isn't just about heritage, a museum or open park space. Certainly these are aspects of the vision but what it important is that the site is able to create long term opportunities for young people from the area as well as respecting the history of the dock and the significance of the pioneering industry that gave rise to them.
We aim to see the docks become a thriving hub of activity throughout the day and throughout the year. Crucial to its success and sustainability will be the ability of the park to attract locals, visitors and tourists alike. It is about celebrating the evolving "living heritage" of the site by looking at past, present and future context as a continuing story.
We anticipate opportunities for social enterprises & small traders, for education, research & artistic interpretation and for water based activity making full use of the dry docks. Perhaps we will once again see small ships being repaired and built in the docks, thus maintaining a full connection to its history.
Maritime and post-industrial attractions around the world:
Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative was established in 2015 following on from an informal campaign launched in 2014 for Govan Graving Docks to be restored - the original concept being a "shipbuilding heritage park".
Since then the vision has been refined based on feedback and research gathered through our networking activities. You can see how the vision has evolved over the past three years by looking at some of our reference documents relating to the project.
Glasgow was once the most important shipbuilding centre in the world and at one time more than a fifth of the world's ships were launched on the Clyde. In spite of this while other maritime cities have adpated their historic infrastructure and heritage very successfully there is very little in Glasgow that marks the significance of the industry that drove the city's expansion.
While there are small museums and disconnected exhibits that are successful in their own context, and the Finnieston Crane that stands as an iconic monument on the skyline, what is very much lacking is a major attraction that offers an immersive experience of Glasgow shipbuilding. Tourists don't come just to see cranes and model ships - something more memorable and of greater scale is what is needed.
For inspiration we have looked to attractions like New York's Highline, Landschaftspark Dusiburg Nord in the Ruhr Valley and the National Museum of the Royal Navy. As well as a variety of urban nature parks around the world.
Although we have presented an outline concept for what a maritime park at Govan Graving Docks could be there is a great deal that is still to be addressed and decided.
A brief for a formal masterplan will derive from the conversation that will emerge from the student design competiiton that we are running during the 2017-2018 academic year. This is for architecture students to to produce masterplan concepts for the regeneration of Govan Graving Docks.
The competition entries will be publicly exhibited for community and stakeholder feedback to help inform the drafting of a masterplan brief. In this way we will be able to help communities in Govan and Glasgow, as well as the wider maritime and heritage communities on the Clyde to shape the vision for the future of the docks.
